Cincinnati Bengals place kicker Evan McPherson (2) kicks an extra point in the first quarter of the NFL Preseason Week 2 game between the Washington Commanders and the Cincinnati Bengals at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md., on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Evan McPherson Concludes 'Smooth' Preseason Following Shaky 2024 Campaign

Originally posted on Cincinnati Bengals on SI
By Russell Heltman | Last updated Aug 25, 2025 7:51 AM ET

Evan McPherson is carrying plenty of confidence into the 2025 season after seemingly fixing his 2024 issues this preseason.

The Bengals' placekicker went 12/12 in total on kicks across the three games, including three field goals (two from 50-plus yards). He's trying to bounce back from a career-low 72.7% field goal hit rate last season.

"It was funny, I was talking to the ref in Philadelphia at the opening kickoff, and it was the first time I'd played since Week 11 or 12 of the previous year," McPherson noted, referring to his season-ending injury last year. "It had been, however many months since I played in an actual football game. I didn’t realize it until then, but it’s been a lot of fun. I think being injured and held out, what it really teaches you is the appreciation of what you have and not taking anything for granted right now because you’re not going to get any of these times back. I’m just really fortunate to be back out there, and I’m not going to take this year for granted, give it everything I’ve got, and if it works out, great, and if not, we’ll figure it out.”

The veteran is sound with his process at this point and got some good work in this preseason.

McPherson missed a few huge kicks last season down the stretch of losses. If he's back around an 85% hit rate like he usually is this fall, it should flip at least one close result back Cincinnati's way.

“It felt really good," McPherson said about the preseason. "I feel like the operations this preseason were really smooth, and I got a lot of improvements out of myself. Out of the whole operation, I felt like it was a lot smoother, a lot cleaner, and everyone’s got a lot of confidence in each other rolling into the regular season.

"I’m really excited with how I performed. There are a few things on maybe a couple field goals that I didn’t hit well, but still went in, so I’ll just continue to focus on ball contact and making sure everything’s clean and ready to go for Cleveland.”

Less than two weeks remain until McPherson is back on the field for a regular-season game.